A big red with a big following thanks to its dense dark and impressive ripe black plummy flavours intermingled with spice in a deliciously full bodied, complex red wine from Waiheke Island's biggest wine producer. 

The grapes in this wine come from six vineyards on the island. They are called  Asylum, Big North, Garden Cove, Mad Mans, Niko Face and North 3; all small sites planted on extremely steep hillsides on a remote and beautiful corner of Waiheke Island. Each little vineyard was originally planted as an experiment to see how well grapes would fare here. The results speak for themselves; Man O' War Dreadnought Syrah is a commanding and powerful red from one of the warmest climates in New Zealand. It was fermented in French oak, 32% new and 68% seasoned and is named after the first in a line of early 20th Century battleships which was named Dreadnought. 

Impressive powerful Shiraz made from 150 year old vines in the Barossa Valley. This rich and elegant wine has  complex aromas of red fruit, chocolate and herbs, complemented by an underlying savoury note. The palate is juicy and fruity, with a good dose of sweet spice. The fruit character in this expressive wine is balanced by the fine grained tannins and a long finish.

Langmeil is owned by the Lindner family, which has been making wine for six generations in the Barossa Valley.

Dark and spicy, full bodied and complex. A wine to drink now and to keep. Giesen's Clayvin Syrah has aromas of blueberry, plum, cinnamon and nutmeg with aniseed notes leading into a powerful palate full of texture and concentration with a lingering savoury finish. Whole bunches make up a component of this wine, which add depth, weight, structure and spicy notes. 

Clayvin was the first hillside vineyard in Marlborough and is now certified organic and is home to a small number of Syrah vines. 

Deep, dark, rich and spicy with multi layered textural refinement, a full body, dry flavours and full spectrum of dark ripe plums held together in a beautifully structured sparkling wine. This special wine represents the great heights of bottle fermented Shiraz - it is the only Australian sparking wine, red or white, that features in the Langton's Classification VII of Australian Wine.

Rockford Wines' legacy

Rockford Wines is an icon itself and a relatively new one, established in 1971 by Robert O'Callaghan, who has forged a reputation for preserving winemaking tradition and saving many of the world's oldest grape vines from being pulled up in the Australian Government's vine pull schemes of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Rockford vintage shed houses equipment from 50 to 100 years ago, which was discarded by other wineries as modernisation took over.

Barrel fermented Syrah with ripe black fleshy plum flavours, hints of baking spice (notes of cinnamon, ginger and cardamon) and a long, structured but smooth finish with ripe tannins and dry flavours. This wine is the jewel in Mission Estate's Syrah crown and is made from 100% Gimblett Gravels grapes. 

Outstanding Hawke's Bay Syrah which was first made in the early 1990s from iron rich soils. This makes Bullnose one of the oldest Syrah brands in Hawke's Bay, named after one of the vineyards from which the wine is made (which, in turn, was named after the vineyard owners' love of old cars, particularly the pre 1928 Bullnose). The grapes come from two vineyards, Bullnose and Isosceles, both in the Bridge Pa Triangle; one of the warmer growing areas of Hawke's Bay, thanks to both soil and climate there. 

Aging for 15 months in French oak, which provides its spicy notes and depth.

A beautiful wine for drinking now or for cellaring. 

Only produced in the best years, this Reserve Syrah is Passage Rock's showcase wine.

Rich ripe aromas of dark forest fruit and spice, coffee and vanilla on the nose lead to a dark garnet intensity in the glass. On the palate, toasted nuts and spices vie with dark berries, integrated ripe tannins and lacy acidity. Cellar it for 10 to 15 years

An elegant Syrah from Hawke's Bay winemaker Kate Radburnd, whose extensive experience of making Syrah brings out the best in this exotic spicy French grape variety. Red fruit aromas are supported here by a velvet smooth backbone of fine tannins. Pure fruited and fragrant, with blueberry and cardamon spice. This Syrah has lingering length and persistence of flavour, a hallmark of this variety.

This delicious, dark and juicy new release is made from hand harvested Syrah grapes, which were destemmed and fermented in open tops with some foot stomping. Some whole bunches were incorporated in the ferment.

Vineyard Sites - Cornerstone Vineyard lies at the heart of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural region, strategically positioned at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50 in Hawke’s Bay. This area is celebrated as New Zealand’s premier Bordeaux red grape-growing region, and it’s easy to see why. The vineyard’s unique terroir, composed of riverbed stones and gravels, challenges the vines, leading them to produce a limited yield of small, intensely coloured, and flavourful berries. The resulting grapes give rise to wines with rich, mouth-filling tannins and a depth of character that speaks to the harsh yet rewarding growing conditions. 

Vinification - The grapes were carefully handpicked and fermented in small, open vats. Traditional hand-plunging techniques were used to gently extract the rich flavours and colour. After fermentation, the wine underwent varying degrees of post-ferment skin contact to enhance complexity before being pressed off. The wine then proceeded to malolactic fermentation and was aged in French oak barriques, with 30% of the barrels being new, adding subtle layers of oak influence and refinement. 

Tasting Notes - Boasting an inky, deep ruby hue, this wine offers aromas of stewed red fruits, hints of raspberry jam, black cherry, black plum, and violets. Subtle light cedar and toast are so well knitted you almost miss them. On the palate, flavours of cooked red plum and hints of tobacco emerge.  The finish is long, with fruit carrying right through. An outstanding wine, perfect to drink now or age.

Te Mata Tasting Note

Bright crimson at the edge with a deep purple-black core, Bullnose ’24 is wonderfully expressive and fragrant. Aromas unfold in layers of violet, fresh raspberry, ripe plum and dark cherry, wrapped in black olive with subtle spice and pepper. The palate amplifies the depth of fruit and textural intensity, delivering concentrated richness, framed by a vibrant, precise acid line that imparts energy and a bracingly youthful edge. With underlying power and elegance, fine persistent tannins carry the wine through to a long, beautifully driven finish. Bullnose ’24 is a showstopper. This is a Bullnose for the ages. Enticing, long and beautifully composed.

Outstanding Hawke's Bay Syrah which was first made in the early 1990s from iron rich soils. This makes Bullnose one of the oldest Syrah brands in Hawke's Bay, named after one of the vineyards from which the wine is made (which, in turn, was named after the vineyard owners' love of old cars, particularly the pre 1928 Bullnose). The grapes come from two vineyards, Bullnose and Isosceles, both in the Bridge Pa Triangle; one of the warmer growing areas of Hawke's Bay, thanks to both soil and climate there. 

Aging for 15 months in French oak, which provides its spicy notes and depth.

A beautiful wine for drinking now or for cellaring. 

The vines from this Shiraz are believed to have been planted in 1843. The original plantings still survive and are some of the oldest and rarest vines in the world. This is a rich and complex wine worthy of extended ageing. The nose is intense with notes of plum, coffee and oaky spice. The palate is rich with ripe fruit and sweet spices. Freedom Shiraz is full-bodied with a long and fruity finish.

The older Barossa Valley vineyards typically yield fruit of concentrated flavour and soft, supple and velvety tannins that set them apart from the younger stuff. The Ebenezer block gives this wine its dark core and its muscle, with the fruit from Williamstown providing elegance, fragrance and spice. There’s plenty of blackberry, black satsuma plum, black cherry and cassis with great intensity and length.

A lovely, deep and dark violet colour in the glass, this wine opens with mineral and smoke accented dark berries, liquorice and spicy black pepper on the deeply perfumed nose. The palate flows energetically with juicy cherry and blackcurrant flavours and more of the smoky minerality found on the nose which adds lift and depth. The finish is long with floral and tapenade pinned together with well defined ripe tannins.

Maturation - 16 months in oak barrels used for several earlier vintages

This classic wine of the estate and of the appellation is an archetypal expression of the finesse and elegance of the wines of Côte-Rôtie amde with Syrah and a splash of Viognier. 

Dark ruby red in colour. Spices, red berries and delicate oak aromas. Round soft tannins. Aromas of raspberry, blackberry and vanilla. Balance between scarcely perceptible acidity and tannins which add ageing potential and softened by long ageing in oak.

Commercial description

This deep purple Syrah blossoms with blue fruits and violets, and is directed as if by gravitational force to a subtle undertone of exotic cooking spices. Vibrant and sharply focused, displaying smoke-accentuated nuance on the palate with a plush, velvety texture. Eighteen months in carefully selected French oak barriques with regular bâtonage rounded the tannins, adding to the framework a fine grip and delicate finishing touch. Cellaring Potential: 10 years